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Kenyan, Ethiopian business community urged to help boost bilateral trade

Xinhua, June 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kenya and Ethiopian leaders on Thursday called on business community of both countries to take advantage of a Special Status Agreement (SSA) to help increase bilateral trade.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and visiting Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said the trade volume between the two countries was still low and that various initiatives undertaken by the governments should be a catalyst to facilitate trade.

"We will actively engage with you (business community) because the private sector drives the economy of any natiion," Kenyatta told a Kenya-Ethiopia Business Forum in Nairobi.

Trade between Kenya and Ethiopia has grown from 46 million U.S. dollars in 2008 to 77 million dollars in 2015, according to Kenyatta.

"Our mutual efforts to facilitate trade and improve the ease of doing business in our respective countries will see these numbers keep rising over the long-term," Kenyatta said.

Kenya and Ethiopia are among Africa's leading countries in terms of economic growth rates. While Kenya's economy is currently growing at about 5.6 percent, Ethiopia's economy grew by 11 percent in 2015.

Speaking at the forum, Desalegn said Ethiopia was "keen to partner with Kenya especially for their transit corridor and logistics."

He said the two countries were seeking to accelerate the implementation of the SSA, which is aimed at enhancing trade and investment between the two countries.

"We do admit the actioning of the Special Status Agreement has been slow, but we are ready to remedy this to ease the cost of doing business," he said.

Once the SSA is fully implemented with the elimination of both tariffs and non-tariff barriers, market access between the two countries will be improved, which will therefore benefit the flow of goods and services.

He also said the trade between the two countries will be boosted by the completion of the Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor project, which runs through the two countries and aims to transform infrastructure across its path.

Desalegn called on businessmen of the two countries to take advantage of the new policies being implemented by the two governments to build strong business ties.

Kenya exports to Ethiopia, in part, insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, textile materials, aluminum, medicaments, and household equipment of base metals, among other manufactured products.

Ethiopia exports to Kenya, in part, vegetables, spices, oil seeds, lime, cement and fabricated construction materials, cereals, and crude vegetable oils. Endit